


Abject Terror

by beloved_key



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hallucinations, Langst, Phobias, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Team as Family, gotta get the magical artifact whoop-dee-doo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 01:19:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16863550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beloved_key/pseuds/beloved_key
Summary: For Keith, getting out of the forest was easy.





	Abject Terror

For Keith, getting out of the forest was easy.

Maybe it was because he’d never been very introspective; the most “real” fear he’d ever agonized over was that the team would reject him for being Galra, and that particular worry had been alleviated almost immediately. So when he was confronted with strangely-distorted faces of friends making accusations, assumptions, attacks, Keith only needed to remember that this had already been resolved. He fought his way to the center, cut down apparitions with his bayard as they appeared, retrieved the ominously-glowing artifact the locals apparently needed, and came back, quickly shooting a message to the others that he’d found the target and they could return to the Lions now.

Shiro probably had the roughest time out of everyone; luckily, it was shorter than most, because his instinct in a PTSD-fueled fugue was to retreat. Keith found him kneeling at the paws of the Black Lion, shaking and staring, jumpy, but not in the throes of a flashback anymore. Keith told him that he found the artifact, and asked if he was okay. Shiro nodded vaguely to both, blinking hard and focusing on his own breathing. Keith knew from experience to give him a little space.

Pidge came out next, eyes wide and voice shaky, but still dragging Hunk behind her. Hunk had apparently been struck with disorientating vertigo, and couldn’t find his way out. Luckily, he’d staggered into Pidge’s path, snapping her out of her own visions, and allowing her to guide them to safety (what Pidge saw, she wouldn’t say; she only sat next to Shiro, who pulled himself together enough to put a gentle hand on her head). Both were relieved to hear that Keith had managed to obtain the artifact.

After about ten minutes (long enough for Hunk’s stomach to calm down from the abuse it had just suffered) Keith began to get worried. Shiro and Pidge were still recovering; but Hunk wandered over, glancing nervously at the forest.

“Lance should be back by now, right?” He muttered, shifting from foot to foot. “That’s what you’re thinking about, right?”

Keith grunted in agreement, hand drifting to where his bayard hung on his belt. “I’m gonna go in after him.”

A steely look entered Hunk’s eyes. “I’ll go too.”

Keith shook his head. “You just stopped throwing up, and I’m sorry, but I’ll move faster without you.”

Despite Keith’s assurances, Hunk still protested. “You shouldn’t go in that place alone, man, you saw how it messes with you. And yeah I’ll be slow, but…” He glanced back towards Shiro and Pidge. “I don’t really wanna send them back in there, y’know?”

Keith glanced at the other two Paladins as well, sighing. “Look, the visions weren’t that bad for me. I’ll be fine.”

Hunk narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What did you see?”

Keith didn’t mind Hunk’s forward question. “I saw you guys, getting mad at me or being scared of me because I’m Galra.” He shrugged. “It didn’t bother me, because I already know you don’t feel that way. You care about me as much as I care about you. I knew it wasn’t real.”

Hunk surprised Keith with a sudden hug. “That is the sweetest thing you’ve ever said, Galra-Keith. Turning Galra made you sentimental.”

Pulling out of Hunk’s grasp, Keith snapped, “I didn’t just turn Galra, for the last time! Now will you let me go in after Lance?”

Hunk hesitated, then sighed. “Okay, fine. But I’m coming in after you if you don’t come back in ten minutes, okay?”

Keith nodded. He doubted he’d need that long.

The visions were even easier to conquer the second time; with his usual determination bolstered by the lingering warmth of Hunk’s hug (even Keith wasn’t embarrassed to enjoy Hunk’s hugs; everyone knew they were the best hugs in the universe) he managed to cut his way through the pathway Lance had been assigned to, ears pricked to parse out Lance’s actual voice from the forest’s not-quite-right version.

Only now, the visions had started to shift; maybe fueled by Keith’s mounting worry for the Blue Paladin, maybe because he was getting closer, Keith didn’t particularly care. He suddenly started seeing more of Lance, bloodied and broken, or Lance, possessed by a druid, or Lance, impaled by Keith’s own knife--

Slicing through that particular vision with unnecessary vehemence, Keith took a moment to just breathe. That was why he’d never been particularly introspective. If he let himself think about his own fears, they’d cease to be simple.

Suddenly, Keith heard another sound mingling with his own heavy breathing. From aways to the left, what sounded like… Hyperventilating.

Lance.

Keith found Lance in the center of a clearing, curled up in a ball, eyes wide and gasping desperately for air. Rushing forward, Keith slid down next to Lance on his knees, hesitating before reaching out to touch him.

His fingers met shaking, but solid, flesh. He’d found the real Lance, then. One look in Lance’s glassy eyes told Keith he was too far gone; the best thing for him was to be as far away from this forest as possible.

Not wasting any time, Keith quickly scooped up Lance, and started jogging back towards the lions, calling in to let Hunk know he was on his way back. Hunk started to respond, but Keith tuned him out, focusing instead on Lance, who was shivering in his arms, breath still way too fast.

“Lance, hey.” Keith gasped, out of breath from running with the surprisingly light, but still weighty, Paladin. “Listen, whatever you’re seeing? It’s not real. You’re okay, I, uh… I’m not gonna let anything hurt you, okay? You’re safe. We’ll be out soon.”

Keith wasn’t sure how much of what he’d said got through to Lance, but the Blue Paladin’s hand reached up and wrapped itself around the collar of Keith’s armor. Keith wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not; he decided to run faster anyway.

Within minutes, they burst from the trees and into the light of the planet’s two suns. Hunk was quick to relieve Keith of Lance, gently picking him up out of the Red Paladin’s arms and bringing him over to where the others were still recuperating.

Shiro had regained most of his presence since Keith left; he quickly knelt down next to where Hunk set Lance down, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Lance, buddy, hey. It’s okay now. It was just the forest messing with you. Everything’s okay.”

Hunk sat down too, shifting Lance so his head was in the Yellow Paladin’s lap. Pidge scooted over by Lance’s feet, while Keith sat down opposite Shiro at Lance’s side, staring intently at his still-glassy eyes.

Slowly, Lance responded to their gentle encouragement, blinking up at the open sky and shifting slightly. Finally, he managed to say, in a rasping voice; “Was in… Coffin. Couldn’t get out, no one… Heard.”

Keith reached out to grab Lance’s hand, setting aside any discomfort he had with this sort of soft contact. “I heard you.”

Lance let out a shaky breath and nodded, squeezing Keith’s hand lightly as the others gently explained that it was a trick of the forest, and it was over now, they’d gotten the artifact and could go home. When they finally were ready to return to their lions, no one questioned Keith escorting Lance into Blue, and Red followed the others back to the castle on autopilot without complaint. They’d let Allura and Coran return the artifact to the locals.

**Author's Note:**

> I come back to this one a lot. Thanks so much for reading, feel free to comment/kudos, love you!


End file.
